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What are your miles and points worth? That seems to be a popular question, with a seemingly ever-changing answer. To help readers get a general idea of the value miles and points, TPG posts a monthly valuation series covering 37 different programs.

However, the value you’re going to get out of your award miles/points will vary based on a few elements: which routes, which dates and whether you fly economy or a premium cabin when you redeem your miles. So, we’re kicking off a new series where we dive deep to figure out which frequent flyer programs are the best for certain popular routes. This week we’re analyzing New York City (JFK/LGA/EWR) to/from Los Angeles (LAX).

Methodology

We strategically picked a range of dates to analyze. Image courtesy of Shutterstock.

To start, we picked 10 dates to analyze. To get a broad sample, we chose dates ranging from last-minute to a five-month advance purchase. These dates are:

Tomorrow — because sometimes things come up and you need to travel as soon as possible.

One week from today

Next Friday

Third Monday

22 days from today — most discount fares require a 21-day advance purchase.

Fifth Saturday

Wednesday in five weeks

Seventh Tuesday

Three months from today

Five months from today — for those planning well in advance.

Next, we gathered the cost — in both cash and miles — for each of the airlines that have a nonstop on this particular route. For NYC-LAX, there are five airlines in contention: American Airlines, Delta, JetBlue, United and Virgin America. Let’s take a look at how they fared.

American Airlines

American Airlines’ first-class product is one of the premier choices on the NYC-LAX route. Image courtesy of American Airlines.

American Airlines runs 7-12 daily flights between New York’s JFK and Los Angeles (LAX). All of these flights are served by the carrier’s three-class Airbus A321T. This aircraft has 10 lie-flat first-class seats (1-1 arrangement), 20 lie-flat business-class seats (2-2 arrangement) and 72 economy seats (3-3 arrangement). In TPG’s latest valuations, he pegs AAdvantage miles at 1.5 cents apiece.

Cabin

Average fare
(round-trip)

Average award
miles required (r/t)

Value of miles
(cents per mile)

Cheapest award
option (r/t)

Most expensive
award option (r/t)

Economy

$426

41,500

1.09

25,000

80,000

Business

$2,201

146,250

1.58

87,500

195,000

First

$3,226

208,000

1.59

135,000

260,000

American Airlines didn’t do very well on this route for the dates we tested. Economy redemptions tested well under the 1.5-cent valuation of AAdvantage miles. While business and first-class awards tested about 1.6 cents each, these options require an incredibly high number of miles to book.

Redemption values varied from just 0.42 cents per mile (for economy flights five months out) up to 2.7 cents per mile (for first-class flights departing tomorrow). Generally, the best cents-per-mile redemptions were for travel within two weeks.

Individual award flight prices ranged widely as well. Economy flights stretched between 12,500 miles one-way all the way up to 50,000 miles one-way. Business-class flights ranged from 32,500 up to 97,500 miles each way, and first-class flights cost between 50,000 and 130,000 miles each way. On one date, we found that the cheapest economy award redemption was actually the same cost as the cheapest first-class redemption (50,000 miles).

As with American Airlines, Delta economy rates generally underperformed against TPG’s SkyMiles valuation. Delta Comfort+ award options were an even worse value. While the cash fares for Delta Comfort+ aren’t much more than economy, the Delta Comfort+ award options were nearly double economy rates.

Redemption rates ranged from 0.65 cents per mile (multiple Delta Comfort+ options) up to 1.98 cents per mile (for a last-minute Delta One redemption). Generally, economy awards were better with a three-week to five-month advance purchase, but Delta One redemptions found their highest value per mile for flights within 3 weeks.

JetBlue

JetBlue’s Mint is one of the best transcontinental options — especially if you can snag the suites in rows 2 and 4. Image courtesy of JetBlue.

JetBlue operates 6-10 daily flights between New York’s JFK and Los Angeles (LAX) on its flagship A321s featuring JetBlue Mint. This aircraft has 16 lie-flat first-class (2-2/1-1 arrangement depending on the row) and 143 economy seats (3-3 arrangement). 41 of the economy seats are Even More Space seats with extra legroom, costing $180 to reserve round-trip on this route. In TPG’s latest valuations, TrueBlue points are estimated to have between 1-1.4 cents per point in value.

Cabin

Average fare
(round-trip)

Average award
miles required (r/t)

Value of miles
(cents per mile)

Cheapest award
option (r/t)

Most expensive
award option (r/t)

Economy

$425

30,600

1.38

20,600

58,800

Mint

$1,718

139,810

1.25

82,800

230,100

Our testing confirmed that there is indeed a range of valuations for TrueBlue points: Redemptions came in between 1.04 cents per point (Mint flights with one week of notice) and 1.45 cents per point (economy flights with a five month purchase). However, most economy options fell between 1.41-1.44 cents, and most Mint options were between 1.30-1.31 cents per point.

Unlike on airlines that supposedly have a fixed cost per award flight, it pays to book JetBlue award flights in advance. Since JetBlue’s points have a somewhat fixed value, booking award flights in advance — when fares are cheaper — should get you award flights using fewer points.

United runs 8-14 daily flights between Newark’s EWR and Los Angeles (LAX). These flights are served by a Boeing 757 — which is arranged either with 28 lie-flat BusinessFirst seats (2-2 arrangement) and 114 economy seats (3-3 arrangement), or 16 BusinessFirst seats and 153 economy seats. In TPG’s latest valuations, he pegs MileagePlus miles at 1.5 cents apiece.

Cabin

Average fare
(round-trip)

Average award
miles required (r/t)

Value of miles
(cents per mile)

Cheapest award
option (r/t)

Most expensive
award option (r/t)

Economy

$438

32,500

1.37

25,000

50,000

BusinessFirst

$2,077

100,000

2.07

100,000

100,000

Of all of the programs on this route, United certainly has the most consistent award pricing. Every economy flight checked was either at the 12,500 saver level or the 25,000 standard level. Meanwhile, every single date we checked for business class had availability at the 50,000-mile level.

While award rates were rather consistent, flight prices varied quite a bit — which created a wide range of redemption rates. The lowest point was a economy redemption with about a week and a half notice (0.77 cents per mile), while the best redemption was for a business-class flight with three weeks of notice (3.25 cents per mile).

Virgin America

Virgin America’s first-class cabin features recliner seats.

Virgin America operates 7-9 daily flights between New York City (JFK/EWR) and Los Angeles (LAX). All of these flights are served by Virgin America A320s — each of which has 8 recliner first-class seats (2-2 arrangement), 12 extra-legroom Main Cabin Select seats (3-3 arrangement) and 126-129 standard economy seats (3-3 arrangement). In TPG’s latest valuations, each Elevate point is estimated to have between 1.5 and 2.3 cents in value.

Cabin

Average fare
(round-trip)

Average award
miles required (r/t)

Value of miles
(cents per mile)

Cheapest award
option (r/t)

Most expensive
award option (r/t)

Main Cabin

$448

20,246

2.17

12,466

29,939

Main Cabin Select

$868

40,835

2.11

26,420

57,043

First

$2,106

98,711

2.14

72,930

135,183

Virgin America’s award valuations were remarkably similar across all dates and cabins. Each option we tested fell between 2.05-2.33 cents per point of value. Having this kind of parity can be a relief for travelers who can know that they’re going to get a rather fixed value out of their points without having to dig for optimal dates.

Comparison

Now that we’ve looked airline by airline, let’s pit the carriers against each other to see which fares (pun intended) the best.

Best for economy paid fares:Depends. Average economy fares were remarkably similar across all five airlines tested. The average economy prices varied between $422 (Delta) and $448 (Virgin), and none of these airlines offers a free checked bag for economy flights. So, pick your airline based on your travel schedule and/or airline loyalty.

Best for economy award flights: Virgin America. Thanks to a relatively fixed-value award program and competitive economy fares, Virgin America’s transcontinental economy flights averaged just over 20k round-trip — compared with averages of 31k on JetBlue, 32k on United, 37k on Delta and 42k on American.

Best for extra-legroom economy paid fares: Delta. Only two airlines sell their extra-legroom seats as separate cabins. Averaging $592, Delta Comfort+ prices are much better than Virgin America’s Main Cabin Select $868 average cost. But, you might be able to snag a cheaper option on American, JetBlue or United after paying for extra-legroom seats.

Best for extra-legroom economy award flights: Virgin America. At an average of just under 41k points round-trip, Virgin America’s Main Cabin Select compares favorably to standard economy rates on other airlines, and handily beats Delta’s 71k extra-legroom award redemptions.

Best for lie-flat award flights: United. For each day we tested, United had lie-flat award seats available at just 100,000 miles round-trip — compared with averages of 140k on JetBlue, 146k on American and 148k on Delta. While Virgin America’s 99k average price is slightly cheaper, its first-class seats don’t lie flat.

Bottom Line

There’s no overall winner for best airline or best mileage program between NYC and Los Angeles. The best carrier is going to depend on how you like to travel. Last-minute, premium-cabin passengers are going to do best with United — but only if you’re willing to fly out of Newark. Meanwhile, advance-planning economy flyers are going to spend the least amount of points using Virgin America — thanks to a fixed-value program and lower advance-purchase rates.

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The credit card offers that appear on the website are from credit card companies from which ThePointsGuy.com receives compensation. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site (including, for example, the order in which they appear). This site does not include all credit card companies or all available credit card offers. Please view our advertising policy page for more information.

Editorial Note: Opinions expressed here are author’s alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, airlines or hotel chain, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities.